The observation deck's illusion was almost convincing, I decided. The
window was hidden, at the moment, creating an unbroken view of a
meadow on Earth. A few clouds hung in the sky. I wondered idly if the
computer had actually created miniature clouds in the proper
proportions, or if it had simply added them to the holograms. I
indulged in a few seconds of thought on this, but decided it didn't
really matter. I lay on my back in the grass, savoring the crisp green
scent, despite the part of my mind that insisted on analyzing the
grass.

Half a meter to my left, a sunflower rose, facing the horizon to greet
its namesake. Glowing tendrils tickled the sky, heralding the arrival
of a new day. A sunrise.

"What would happen if I chose to believe that the sunrise is real?"

There was no response, just a slight breeze, moving the grass tips,
bobbling the sunflower.

"Quantum physics tells us that all of reality is dependent on the
observer. Without an observer, the wave functions cannot collapse and
everything is possible. When someone looks, reality is set on one
course or another. We say that what we see is real, because we have
observed it, but aren't those discarded possibilities just as real?"

The gold was joined with reds and purples and the whole spectrum in
between, layered artistically behind the stand of trees at the far end
of the meadow. The early morning calls of songbirds floated from the
trees, teasing my ears. Of course, there were no songbirds. Nadesico
is too small to house a self-contained ecosystem. But it is a
compelling illusion. Mankind has spent centuries waking up to
songbirds and even recorded songs do the trick.

"What if the entire war, the existence of the Nadesico itself, and all
our memories together are equally fabricated, but are made real
because we choose to believe in it?

"After all, we've seen Boson Jumping, rewriting reality at the whim of
the jumper. If we can travel through time and space at will, isn't it
possible that the war exists because we're willing to fight, and not
vice versa?"

And is it worth it then? I sat up and moved myself nearer to the
sunflower. I brushed my hand over its stem and head, marvelling at the
depth of illusion.

"Of course, the idea of reality dependent on the observer is
nothing new. Plato had the same idea, centuries ago, with his vision
of an ideal plane and the imperfect copies that we observe, here in
reality.

"The Peaceland royal family loved an idealized Ruri, nothing
like myself. This idealized Ruri was not, however, the Ideal Ruri of
Plato's world. She was another observation, another Reality. If I'd
stayed there, would I have slowly changed to fit their ideals?"

I shivered, partially from the cool morning and partially from
memories. My memories of this past year, here on the Nadesico, are my
most precious possessions. I'd never really had many material
possessions; I'd never had use for them. I laughed, remembering the
foolish old geneticist at the school. "A young girl can never have too
much spending money," he'd said. No, what I truly prized were my
friends here on the ship. They were real, living in a way that was
important.

"But don't we use Platonism ourselves? We call Yurika 'the
Captain'. We might as well call Ms. Howmei 'the Cook'; it's really
hard to see her as anything but. That really is her definition."

I thought about that for several minutes, barely noticing the sun
continuing to rise, as I concentrated on this. Was it right to define
people like that, to limit them to being archetypes, like characters
in a story? But, that was how humans thought, I finally decided. So
long as we remember the people instead of focusing on the archetypes,
there's nothing wrong with such things. Satisfied, I turned again to
my definitions.

"And what is Akito? He'd call himself a cook, but that has not been
his calling here. Others would call him many things: boyfriend, pilot,
otaku, enemy. But Yurika would call him 'the Knight', were I to ask
her. And she'd be right."

The sun had nearly reached a respectable hight by now; the colors were
shifting to blue and I began to feel warm from the sunlight. Nearby,
the sunflower danced in the wind, bobbing its head as if to agree with
me. I smiled at it.

"After all, what is the definition of a knight? Honor in war and the
honor of a Lady, isn't it? Akito has his honor. That is why he fights;
not because it is enjoyable or even because it is necessary. He fights
because it is right, right to defend those in need. And because of
Ai. Ever since that cavern on Mars, when he attacked the Jovian robots
in a service vehicle, he's been fighting because he remembers
her. Yurika might be upset about it, but Ai is Akito's Lady. He cannot
allow any more innocents to be lost, like she was. But still, lost
things and lost people have a way of turning up when they're
needed. Perhaps we'll meet her someday, and all his mysteries will be
complete."

I stood as the colors began to fade from the horizon. "Thank you,
Omoikane. That was… beautiful." As I turned to leave, the scene
dissolved away, no longer needed. All that remained was the faintest
touch of gold at the horizon and a sunflower bobbing, despite the
lack of wind.

I left the observation deck and returned to my Work, content again. Nadesico
continued, flying towards Jupiter. And Omoikane smiled to herself and began
preparations of her own.

Author's notes: This, unlike most of my fics, was written without a well-defined
framework. I wrote the beginning and the end first, then filled in pieces to
make them meet. Hopefully it meshes well; hopefully you can tell me when it
doesn't.